New Missoula Elementary School Likely to be Jeannette Rankin Elementary

The new facility for Cold Springs Elementary school students won’t be called Cold Springs. According to MCPS Superintendent Mark Thane, area families submitted dozens of possible names for the school and there are now five finalists.

"The committee reviewed 40 names and they actually went through a process to winnow it down to five names that were then included on a survey that was submitted to all of the students and the students were asked to rank those names one to five with one being their top choice and then each family was each sent home one survey and each family could also rank the names one to five.

Among the five finalists, the current name with the highest vote total is a prominent Montana politician, and the first female elected to federal office in the United States.

When it comes to first place votes, Jeannette Rankin had 346, Malooney Ranch Elementary had 174, Three Rivers Elementary had 142 Mountain View had 44 and Miller Creek Elementary had 29"

Ultimately, the school board will make the final decision, that announcement is expected before the end of November.